It is an unpopular seating area reserved for those who aren’t good enough to be on the field.

But Sunday afternoon, the Texans’ starting defenders were more than happy to plop down on the sideline at EverBank Field.

“They have really, really nice benches; they have shade and they have cooling, so it was awesome that our offense held the ball for so long because we were relaxing over there,” J.J. Watt said.

Oh, now don’t let Watt fool you. The defense did put in some work. Some excellent work, with Watt being the foreman of the crew.

The Texans held Jacksonville to 117 total yards, the fewest any Texans opponent has managed, and a paltry 52 passing yards in a dominant 27-7 victory, their second consecutive 20-point win.

For much of the contest, the Jaguars were moseying along in a sad conga line … 1-2-3 kick.

The Texans forced Jacksonville into seven three-and-outs in 12 possessions, and only one Jaguars possession, their first of the game, lasted longer than four plays. Meanwhile, the Texans set a franchise record for time of possession, as they held on to the ball for more than 43 minutes to Jacksonville’s 16:43.

As he did in the opener against Miami, Watt led the way up front with a sterling performance. When he wasn’t working on his tan in the northern Florida sun sitting on the bench, that is.

The second-year defensive end had a team-high five tackles (four solo), 1½ sacks, a fumble recovery and three quarterback pressures, and he added two deflected passes, his specialty.

“It’s a blast; we’re like little kids out there,” said Watt, who missed the bulk of training camp because of a dislocated elbow. “It’s so much fun to just run around and make plays.”

And he is doing it all over the field, eliciting talk about Watt making the Pro Bowl. When there is Pro Bowl talk about a player in mid-September, you know he is off to a special start. In two games, he has been the best player on what could be the NFL’s best defense.

Because the Pro Bowl will be the week before the Super Bowl, players in the big game in New Orleans won’t play in the fake game in Honolulu.

“I hope to not be available for Pro Bowl week,” Watt said.

When the Texans drafted Watt out of Wisconsin, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips compared him to Phil Hansen, a solid player who competed for Phillips in Buffalo.

Now, Phillips compares Watt to Howie Long, a Hall of Famer.

“Phil Hansen was a good player; Howie Long was a great player,” Phillips said. “J.J. is moving into the great player territory.”

Soon Watt might not be compared to anybody. He’ll simply be the spectacular J.J. Watt.

“I won’t ever get tired of talking about J.J. and how well he does,” Phillips said. “He’s such a good player at a young age. As it is with a bunch of our good players. It’s not as much coaching as it is players.”

With Jacksonville missing two starting offensive linemen because of injuries and second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who was drafted just ahead of Watt with the 10th pick of last year’s draft, missing everybody, the Jaguars hardly stood a chance.

“We want every team thinking they don’t stand much of a chance against us,” Watt said. “They obviously were a little bit banged up, so it was a tough situation for them, but all we can do is play against who they put out there.”

You will hear and read a lot about the Texans going up a notch in class of quarterbacks this week. And, indeed, going from Miami rookie Ryan Tannehill and Gabbert to the Broncos’ Peyton Manning is like going from a street performer with a kazoo to Miles Davis.

So what? Sunday, it wasn’t so much the Jaguars were inept, and they were, as this is the type performance the Texans expect. Dominating defense is the Texans being the Texans.

“Exactly,” Watt said. “Two 20-point wins in the first two weeks? That’s what we’re supposed to do.”